The Sacrifice
by Fukyuu no Tenshi
Summary: [NaruSaku] A mere servant girl in her village and shunned by it inhabitants, Sakura Haruno is sacrificed to the great demon lord Naruto when his wrath is incurred. Upon meeting, things go from bad to worse.
1. The Sacrifice: Chapter 001

**Title: _The Sacrifice _**

**Author: Fukyuu no Tenshi**

**Pairing: Naruto x Sakura**

**Summary: A mere servant girl in her village and shunned by it inhabitants, Sakura Haruno is sacrificed to the great demon lord Naruto when his wrath is incurred. Upon meeting, things go from bad to worse. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**(A/N: Don't read this if you don't like NaruSaku works.)

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_**Chapter 1**_

"Are you absolutely sure her parents are dead, those bloody _beasts_ are hard to get rid of." a huddle figure in black whispered worriedly. "Yes, the mother died giving birth, the father was killed off by our villagers." Another figure whispered back, this time dressed in casual peasants clothing.

"Good. It is best if no one from her past remains, it will be perfect; her powers will never develop if she does not come along one of her_ own_."

"Are you sure, you know, you can properly seal it off?"

"Yes, it will be hard, but I can do it. Her parents were strong, so her powers are probably strong as well. Stand back now."

The peasant ran back to the village as the figure dressed in black pulled down her hood. You could tell by just looking that it was an old lady, her eyes were beady and she held a look of wisdom about her.

"Be gone, beast."

With one last look, the old woman held her fingers together and formed a triangle, she started to chant under her breath as a tiny baby placed in the middle of the altar began to glow blue. In a flash everything was over. The old lady was no longer there, she had given her life to seal away the tiny baby's powers, with no regrets at all.

The small baby continued to wriggle and cry as she flailed her arms, a tattoo burning itself upon her skin.

It was the mark of a beast.

**_17 years later, in the village of Konoha…_**

"Look, there's the monster girl!" one girl cried as the rest huddled around her to protect themselves against the so called 'monster'

"Stop calling me that!" a teenage girl cried angrily, after seventeen years of shunning and hate, she could never understand why in the world everyone was being so mean to her.

Had she done something wrong? Like maybe take something she wasn't supposed to? "No! Mommy says you're a monster! Leave us alone!" feeling more courageous, the group of kids gathered rocks and started to throw them at her.

"Hey, you brats, cut that out!"

The pink-haired teen began to chase after them, unaware of the angry looks she was getting. After another five minutes of chasing, one girl ran off to get her father and came back with a burly looking man.

"Are you picking on my daughter?"

"More like she was picking on me!" the girl cried angrily, the man shook his head. "You need to learn your place girl." Some other 'concerned parents' gathered around and started to beat Sakura.

When they were finally satisfied, they left the bloody heap alone, not even caring if she was badly hurt or not.

"Argh. Damn." The girl gathered herself and marched off to finish her work, she was used to this kind of attention, it happened almost daily, since she had no parents, no one would look after her.

She lived at an abandoned shack on the far side of the village, she worked for the manager of Ichiraku, he was fairly nice to her, but he didn't pay her much.

It was enough though, just having someone who didn't hate her like she belonged in hell.

As she finally neared the ramen restaurant, she was shot more dirty looks from the customers. "Sakura, I need you to go to the well and fetch some more water."

The girl known as Sakura nodded and grabbed a couple of pails; she headed to the edge of the forest and started on gathering water at the well. Once both pails were full she started off for the village once more.

She spotted a boy who was about her age along the way, his name was Sasuke Uchiha, he didn't have any family like her, but he treated her no better than anyone else did, he didn't beat her at all or anything, he just seemed to ignore her.

Secretly she had a crush on him, but she could never tell him that, he would never like her.

"Hello, Sasuke."

"Hn." He sneered and looked the other way.

Sakura sighed and continued on her path.

When she reached to center of the village, she noticed that people were gathering around something, being the always curious one, she approached with caution, careful not to get caught.

The village boys seemed to have caught something big while hunting, it looked human but it had bat wings.

"See! Look, we caught one of _them_."

Sakura didn't know what they meant by them, but suddenly a village elder shuddered. "Do you know what you did! Look at his crest; he is obviously one of _his_ men, now you have done it. And all of us have hell to pay."

"Relax pops, it's only one."

"Only one? Do you know what he will do to us? Do you?"

The gathered villagers all shuddered and gasped. Suddenly the boy paled.

"I-I I didn't know."

"Of course!" the villagers again shuddered, they were obviously very scared, not being to take it any longer, Sakura spoke up again.

"What are you talking about?"

Everyone turned away from her and walked away, they shot her glares as they passed and sneered at her.

"Argh! Why does this always happen to me?"

Day after day, the village seemed to tense more and more, they were waiting for something Sakura could not understand, and it infuriated her to no end.

Day after day, she found herself wondering what they were talking about when they were discussing the thing the boys had caught, but even though she tried to ask everyone, they turned away and left.

A couple days after the incident, while she was out getting more water and trying to say hello to Sasuke, something happened, a village civilian ran to her and dragged her away, making her drop her pails.

"Hey!"

She screamed in outrage, but they didn't seem to hear.

"He's here. Come along. Hurry up. He's here! He's here!"

As they approached the center of the village again, Sakura shuddered there was something…powerful about, even she who had no training as a ninja could feel it, it felt so, so powerful.

_Just powerful_…

Approaching the clearing, everyone in her path stepped away, she was being treated as though not to be touched or she could kill them all.

When she reached the center, she saw it, or rather him.

He was a fairly human looking thing, he had no wings, but there were to orange appendages atop his head, his eyes were red and there were claws and fangs instead of fingernails and normal sized teeth.

Sakura then realized it; the person standing in the middle of the village was the one who contained all the power. Sakura shuddered again.

"You have killed one of my men." The person began, his eyes seemed to get redder and fiercer, although he was just as tall as some of the village men (about more than 6 feet) they all seemed smaller than him.

"Please, please! The boys did not know!"

One of the villagers bowed hurriedly and pleaded for forgiveness, everyone did the same except Sakura; she still didn't know what was happening.

Then noticing that she was in a different position than the elders for the first time, Sakura turned to face the person with fox ears; they're eyes met for the promptest of moments before the person smirked.

"Very well, I will generously assume they were stupid. Don't let it happen next time."

All the villagers seemed surprised, and so did Sakura, the person looked so angry before, but now he seemed almost…happy.

"But I will require payment."

The person stated finally, his eyes were dulling to a much less fiercer red and finally they turned blue, his nails turned back to normal size and his teeth as well, though they were still pointed.

"Anything, We have food money – "

"I don't need your human things. I want _her_."

He pointed a finger at Sakura; she gasped and walked back a few steps, but was grasped by the other villagers and thrust forward.

"You can have her!"

The man snorted. "It always sickened me how easily you would sacrifice another for your own lives…"

Then he grabbed Sakura and slung her over his shoulder.

"What? Wait - no! Lemme go! You traitors!" Sakura continued to thrash as the villagers held their stoic faces.

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**Ok, I order you to review, I'm waiting till I get 'nuff so I can continue. So review! Review!**


	2. The Sacrifice: Chapter 002

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**(A/N: Here's the second chapter, as promised, I'd like to thank everyone for reviewing as well, please continue doing that! I need a beta (sobs) but until then…I guess I'll just keep checking over my chapters by myself.)

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_**Chapter 2**_

The demon continued on his path, while Sakura continued her thrashing and screaming. "Lemme go, **lemme go**!"

"Geez, you sure are a loud one…by the way, my name's Naruto, yours?" Sakura ignored him and continued to thrash. "I don't want to die!" the man started to laugh and Sakura found herself glaring at him, temporarily stopping the struggle.

"What?"

"I'm not going to kill you or anything; you're going to be…helping me a bit…"

Sakura gave him a skeptical look then started to thrash wildly again, this time more strongly than the last. "Noo! I don't want to loose my virginity!" the man laughed again, this time louder.

"I'm not going to rape you…unless maybe you want to -"

"No! Just let me go!"

"I can't. In exchange for one of my men, I get you, and I wouldn't want one of my men to go to waste…no?" Sakura growled at him. "Just what are you?" he gave her a toothy grin.

"My, you sure are under-educated. I my dear am a demon."

"I'm not stupid. Demons don't exist." Sakura replied back. "Then what would you call me?"

"A monster."

Naruto gave her an offended look and started to speed up. "Aww, you've hurt my feelings. I'm not a monster." Sakura snorted. "Yeah, well if my village considers me a monster, you must be worse than a monster."

"Hm?" Naruto quirked a brow.

"Nothing. Jerk."

"Ok, ok, I can live with that, if you don't already know, my name's Naruto."

"Will you let me go?"

"No."

Sakura growled out in frustration. "I don't understand you! Why did you have to take me away from my village, you arrogant son of a b -"

"You have a pretty foul mouth." Sakura couldn't help but pout against her will, and settle down a bit, silently breathing in and out the rest of the trip.

When they finally arrived at what Naruto would call a 'home' Sakura's eyes fell out of their sockets. His place was fit for a king, it was large, looked like a castle and there were at least 5 maids in the front scurrying about.

"You_ live_ here?"

"What else would it be used for?"

Sakura continued to gape as she was dragged into the castle. By the front, they were met up by a person, or demon, as Naruto put it, with ears similar to his, he eyed Sakura hungrily before scuttling away.

"Um, Naruto…" Sakura was feeling a little less hostile now. "Why are they staring at me?"

"They want to eat you."

Sakura paled and started to thrash again. "No, I don't want to be eaten either!" with this she attracted a lot more attention she would be better off without.

"Don't worry. I'm sure they won't unless they're really hungry…"

"What do you mean, _unless they get really hungry_? I could die here, all because of you, why'd you have to drag me away from my village?"

"Well, I needed payment for the loss of one of my men, and I don't really like to destroy villages, contrary to popular belief, and well, besides, I kind of like you."

He turned his head to shoot Sakura a grin.

They continued through his maze of a house until they reached a door. "This is where you will be staying." He unlocked the door and dropped her on the bed; luckily, it was soft, really, really soft.

Then he dragged her out again and pointed to the door across the hall. "That, is my room, if you try and escape, I'll know."

He then shoved her back into her room and handed her a piece of paper. "These are you chores, I made them specifically so you can't go outside and you can't leave the third floor."

He shoved the list into Sakura's hands as she stared sullenly at it.

"Can't you let me go?"

"No."

Sakura walked back into her room plopped into her bed. Naruto eyed her curiously but left the room in a matter of seconds, once Sakura was sure he was gone, she whispered to herself softly.

"I need to get out of here." Her slightly muffled voice sounded.

After twenty minutes of plotting Sakura sighed tiredly.

"Argh…this always happens to me…"

Sakura woke up by the sunlight filtering through her window. She glanced around got up, and peeked outside her door. Good, she told herself, no one was around.

Silently she crept out of her room and made a dash for the stairs, only to be pulled back by a hand. "I told you…I can see everything…" she was shoved back into her room and then glanced at her window, of course!

Sakura got to the window and pulled it up. She wasn't to far up and there were some ledges she could grasp onto.

She placed a foot outside the window and waited. Good, no on was stopping her. But so she couldn't get caught unaware she continued with her trip and put out the other foot. When her whole body was outside and still unnoticed Sakura glanced curiously down at the lawn below.

Why wasn't anyone stopping her?

She mistook it for good fortune and continued down. When she finally reached the bottom she grinned ecstatically, and turned her head back to the castle and cheered silently.

Sakura continued her walk towards the woods, until she bumped into something.

"I'm amazed you got this far."

"What?"

Sakura turned forward again and looked into the grinning faceof Naruto.

He once again slung her over his shoulder and jumped up until they were back inside her room.

"I told you…"

He wagged a finger triumphantly at her and grinned again.

"H-how did you know?"

He flipped her around and showed her the small diamond shaped item embedded into the very base of her neck with a mirror, where she couldn't see by herself. "It tells me when you're off the third floor."

Sakura groaned, how did she not see it?

"Why won't you let me go? I'm of no use to you; you have like what, seventy maids?"

"A hundred and fifteen," he corrected her "But that's not the point. Just stay here. Even if you were to leave this castle, you'd get killed in a day. Maybe less depending on how quiet you are…"

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, just stay here."

Sakura mumbled a response and sat down. When he left the room, she opened up her chart.

"First chore…"

_Chore #1:_

_Confess to the **Great** Naruto, of how you are deeply attracted to him, **you know you want to…**_

"WHAT?"

_Kidding._

Was messily scribbled at the bottom.

_Real Chore #1:_

Random sentences were scribbled and crossed out, with only one remaining.

_Clean Naruto's room. (Bring a trash bag, a broom, and make that a large trash bag.)_

Sakura grumbled and walked out of her room, she went around looking for a supply room, and various maids were staring at her and whispering. Something told Sakura they were all talking about her.

She could only catch tidbits of information, but she could guess that the rest was about.

"….she's human too..."

"…heard that she got the room across from masters…."

"….she's a virgin….."

Sakura blushed madly but ignored it, she was used to this kind of attention and the faster she got those stupid chores done, she'd be able to figure out a way out of here.

When she finally found the supply closet she dragged back a trash bad and a broom to the 'Great Naruto's' room.

When she looked inside it was enough to see that Naruto wasn't a very clean person. Various trash was thrown about and clothes were everywhere.

Suddenly, two strong arms wrapped around her torso.

"Miss me?"

Sakura wormed out of the persons grip and scowled.

"It'll take forever for me to get this done!"

"I know, and I get to watch you doing it."

Naruto smirked, and for what seemed like the first time, Sakura looked up not at his face but at his ears, they were really…weird. They looked like cat ears or maybe fox ears, but they were kind of…fuzzy. (This is kind of from Inuyasha…the whole 'Must. Touch. Ears!')

Sakura ignored the smirks she was getting from the demon and continued on her job.

"Will you let me go?"

"No."

Another pregnant pause.

"I hate you."

"I know."

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**Another chap. Sorry for not much action, but this is kind of a transition thing, review please! I beg!**


	3. The Sacrifice: Chapter 003

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**(A/N: I would like to thank everyone for their lovely reviews and I hope everyone continues to do so! I'm updating as fast as I can and just recently I got my new laptop from mail and installed Microsoft Word into it. So I hope this will continue to help me in updating faster.)**

**But before we start, I'd like to clear up some things.**

**1. Sakura IS 17.**

**2. In Naruto's castle, they only have DEMON servants**

**3. Naruto is a demon**

**4. Sakura is a demon. (she doesn't know though)**

**5. Everyone in the village thought it would be dangerous to tell her about demons so they didn't tell her. Ever.

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_**Chapter 3**_

Sakura awoke much earlier than she normally would have the next morning, on instinct she felt every part of her body to check if someone had become really hungry the last night.

She was greatly relieved to see that all of her body parts were intact and undamaged.

"Thanks god." She thanked sullenly, looking around her room. In truth, her room was much better, and bigger, than where she had lived before, and there was a slight, cozy feeling to it, in which Sakura wished she could stay.

But even if she had not been a hostage, she would never choose this over her real home. Back home she would get beaten, but here, she could die. Sakura valued her life highly and would hate to lose it.

She sunk back into her bed and realized there was no frantic scuttling of the maids, nor was there the constant whispering she was so used to.

"Maybe everyone's out for a coffee break…" Sakura muttered; feeling more depressed than ever.

"You aren't safe here." Sakura's head whipped around. There sat in the corner of her room was a girl about the same age as her, she had pale white eyes and violet hair.

Sakura held up her hands to shield herself and backed into a corner.

"O-Oh, wait, n-no, I'm not going to eat you!"

The violet haired girl laughed lightly and her face softened. "Ah, my name is H-Hinata…"

Sakura stayed very still and breathed unevenly.

"What are you doing in my room?"

The girl smiled again, this time it seemed full of sadness and regret.

"Lord N-Naruto has taken one of his strongest men, Neji, to battle with him. That is why you are not s-safe….no, not safe at all." Sakura shot her a worried look.

"What? A battle, wait, why am I in danger…what are you doing here?"

"Well," Hinata gave her a thoughtful look. "Lord N-Naruto must go to battle often for territory, though in my opinion, he's the s-strongest out there…" she blushed a light pink that lighted up her face and made her beam.

One more look at Sakura's face and she knew she needed to explain more.

"Well, because Lord N-Naruto is considered one of the great lords, he is constantly challenged by various other demons for his territory and position, though he's held it for quite a while now…."

"A-and as why to you're not safe here, well, the past few days, Lord N-Naruto has been keeping you safe, and w-well now that's he's off, h-he can't do anything to help you…t-that's why I'm here…" she finished softly.

Sakura seemed a little too tired to speak.

"He's been protecting me…?"

"Y-yes, Lord N-Naruto is always worrying about you…he left strict rules for everyone to follow, but he's still worried that they'll harm you, they really hate humans you know…"

Though she kept her calm voice, there seemed to be a tint of jealousy hidden beneath.

"Wait, how come you're not eating me?"

Hinata blushed a very bright red and Sakura thought she looked vaguely like a tomato, but much prettier.

"I would never disobey Lord N-Naruto, he did a lot for me…" Hinata blushed some more, and Sakura finally realized somewhat of what was going on.

"Oh."

"I-I was told to make sure you didn't get h-hurt…"

"Thanks, um, Hinata. I'm, um, Sakura if you don't already know…"

"A-Ah..."

The rest of the day was spent in a tense silence, neither of the girls wanting to start up a conversation.

It was around midnight when Naruto was announced back and Hinata left, looking happier than she had been the whole day, she then told Sakura that she could leave her room.

While everyone else went out to congratulate him in what Sakura would consider as another victory, Sakura stayed sulking in her room, and continued doing her chores. It was about one that she fell back onto her bed and began to snooze off.

When sunlight began to filter through the room, Sakura stirred awake for a moment before realizing she didn't want to wake up, she snuggled into her pillow, which seemed oddly warmer and harder than usual.

"Mmm…."

She snuggled closer; she was feeling more comfortable than usual. Eyes still closed, she shifted and until she was facing her overly large pilled and hugged it, it laughed.

Wait…laughed.

Sakura's eyes snapped open as she backed away over the edge of the bed and flopped over.

"Ouch!"

Sakura rubbed her sore bottom and turned up to see a grinning fox like boy. "And here I thought you wouldn't mind…"

"What. Are. You. Doing. In. My. Bed?" Sakura grit out.

"Its bad enough that I have to **_LIVE_** here, but I don't need you scaring me half to death!"

Naruto shrugged seemingly to tired to argue of even look offended. He was covered in bandages and scratched were still visible where he was not covered like a mummy.

"What happened to you..?"

"I'm sure Hinata told you…"

"Oh yeah…well, you sure looked like you got your butt handed to you on a silver platter…"

Sakura got to her feet and stretched out, yawning. "Actually it wasn't that hard, there were mostly D-level demons and a couple of C-level ones, but only on B-level one, it was pretty easy."

"These are basically minor wounds. I'm glad to see you aren't dead."

Sakura grinned sarcastically.

"Yeah, well I never left my room. Hinata kept me company all day…"

"I know."

"Is there anything you don't?"

Naruto seemed to take this into consideration for a few minutes before he scratched his chin thoughtfully and replied. "I suppose I can't know everything…"

Sakura dusted herself off, grabbed her chore list and left the room.

"Wait!"

About two feet out of her room and she was roughly jerked back in by Naruto's clawed hand.

"What? I have to finish doing to rest of my chores." Sakura started irritably. "Otherwise the other maids will get mad and complain to me…they always shovel what they should be doing onto me…"

Sakura continued muttering, only vaguely aware that her chores list had been taken from her.

"Don't worry, I had your chores divided among the rest of the maids…I want you to meet someone…"

Naruto led Sakura out of her room, and wouldn't let go of her hand, occasionally rubbing circles on her palm. Though it was relaxing, Sakura didn't feel particularly safe about to meet someone who could kill her…

"This is Neji."

Sakura peered around Naruto and saw that Hinata was standing with another man who looked a lot like her; they had the same pale eyes and pale complexion.

Hinata gave a little squeak of surprise when she realized they were there, Neji, the other man, seemed to have already known, he scrunched up his face and looked at Naruto.

"You smell…human."

While Neji and Naruto were chatting, Sakura couldn't find herself to look at Hinata, she was ashamed of knowing that Naruto and her had slept in the same bed – together – even though it was unintentionally.

"Yeah well, you don't have to insult me about it, after all, I did save you ass about a million times last night…"

Neji looked deeply offended, before shooting Naruto a glare.

"You don't smell bad, I was just surprised, and you smell like…flowers and jasmine."

Sakura suddenly realized that their little, erm, well, to out it quite bluntly, _situation_, had probably made Naruto smell like her, she hoped no one would realize…

Neji and Naruto continued her conversation as Sakura looked up occasionally to see Hinata's expression, for now she looked happy just being there…watching Naruto.

"I suppose this is Sakura…"

Sakura turned her head and looked at who had called her name. She realized it was not Naruto, but Neji, he had chestnut colored hair and a cold expression painted on his face.

"Um, hello…" Sakura stated quickly, unsure of what to say.

Neji turned away and walked the opposite direction, had she done something wrong…? Sakura thought as Neji strutted out of view, Hinata turned back to her, bowed politely. "Sorry…h-he's like this to e-e-everyone…"

Hinata's stutter seemed to get worse when Sakura was around and Sakura blushed in shame as she thought about her morning again…besides, it was Naruto's fault….

"Bye…Hinata…" Sakura finished lamely, Hinata bowed again and walked away.

Sakura turned to stare at Naruto.

"You are the most foul, arrogant, careless, clueless, irresponsible person I **_EVER _**met."

Sakura huffed and walked away.

"Wha…? Neji this is your entire **_fault_**, Isn't it?"

Still slightly confused Naruto made his way back to his room.

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**I hope I cleared something's up, remember to review, and I'm sorry that this seemed like a transition chapter too, but at least it had some history of what Naruto does all day and it will contribute to the plot later on!**


	4. The Sacrifice: Chapter 004

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…**

**(A/N: Enjoy…and review…You must review if you want me to continue, )

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_**Chapter 4**_

"LET ME GO!"

Sakura pushed against her bedroom door as Naruto casually looked at his fingers. Neji stood off to the side, an amused grin on his face. "What's this?" Naruto shot him a bored glance.

"The Twenty-sixth time." Naruto yawned, which Sakura seemed more irritated by more than ever.

"She sure does seem stubborn, shouldn't we be -"

"Well, if I leave. She might escape." Sakura backed away and through the crack, both men could see her flashing an innocent smile. "Go on, Lord Naruto, I'll be good." She giggled girlishly and grinned.

"That's creepy." Naruto muttered, but it was loud enough so Sakura could hear.

"ARGH! Bastard just go, so I can escape!"

Naruto nodded. "Neji, she's taking this very seriously, she's tried to seduce me fifteen times now, so I have to stay."

Neji raised an eyebrow. Just until very recently, Sakura had been trying to get off the third floor and out of the castle almost hourly. Naruto didn't seem bothered, but everyone who lived or worked on the third floor were beginning to tire of Sakura's seemingly endless screams.

Sakura let out another scream of frustration and everyone out in the halls covered their ears best they could to block out the noise.

Neji as well shielded his ears and shot a glare at the imprisoned pink-haired girl.

"Should you be provoking her?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know."

"Shouldn't you buy her a…I don't know, muzzle or something?" Naruto grinned smugly. "I thought about that a couple of times to, but her screaming doesn't really bother me…" Neji snorted.

"Easy for you to say, your ears and used to hearing those high-pitched wails, mine aren't."

Naruto shrugged again and continued to stare at his nails.

A servant approached them and asked if someone was dying, Sakura seemed to take this to insult because she began to scream again. The servant scuttled away hurriedly and Sakura calmed down.

She backed away to the edge of her bed and plopped over.

After ten minutes of silence, Neji left. Naruto eased up on the door, but stayed where he was. Occasionally peeking into her room.

Naruto started to hum; Sakura gave him an angry look before turning away.

Finally, after another seventy-two tries and a week passing by, Naruto had been forced to leave by another demon advancing closer to his land more than he would have liked.

He gave Sakura another suspicious look before assigning Hinata's to watch over her.

Hinata agreed meekly and seated herself in Sakura's room.

"You shouldn't try to escape, you aren't safe out there."

Hinata continued to try and persuade Sakura to stop trying to free herself, but with little results, she was quickly called into the kitchen for help.

Before leaving she assigned another maid to watch over her, sadly for Hinata the maid was not very fond of Sakura, she would occasionally walked off and chat with her friends, complaining about her terrible life.

But she would always come back and continue to look after Sakura.

Occasionally she would leave for longer than she was supposed to, but Sakura didn't notice.

She was to busy trying to mentally beat up Naruto.

Only when she heard one of the maid's friends outside her room talking did she formulate a plan.

She watched the maid closely and waited until she would leave for a long time.

When another one of the maid's gossiping friends passed by and she joined her to chat, a relived look passed over Sakura's face.

Sakura silently crept out of her room watching the maids disappearing back.

She seemed to not have noticed that Sakura got out of her room.

Sakura continued to creep own the halls avoiding all contact.

Occasionally she would have to hide behind a plant, but she was close enough to the third floor exit that Sakura cheered, just loud enough for a passing maid to hear.

She was dragged back into her room and given a scolding to, the one who caught her was an old lady, with a scrunched up face and a sharp look to her.

When she left the maid who was supposed to be watching her had still not returned, for a second she wondered where she went before trying to sneak out again. Luckily, security had not made any better and Sakura got to the second floor with ease.

Because she was not familiar with the layout, she continued opening the wrong doors.

After opening a white door with chipping paint, Sakura discovered there were various weapons in the room, knives and swords that would almost be too heavy for Sakura to carry.

Hearing a voice down the hall, Sakura hid inside the room, and then proceeded out.

Her plan was going perfectly, Naruto was not home, none of the maids seemed to notice her there, and Hinata had not called after a search group.

Finally finding, the right door, Sakura walked down the first floor.

No one was there and Sakura could see the exit, she ran out the door, not looking back.

Sakura breathed in deeply she had not been outside in a while, it felt good not to know that Naruto was watching your every move. The small diamond shaped tracking device implanted in the bottom of her neck burned.

She must have notified Naruto that she was not longer on the third floor.

To bad he was off fighting some battle or other…

Sakura continued her journey in which way she thought was home, even if her village would not accept her, she would find some where to go.

She had often thought of visiting Suna…

Suddenly Sakura shivered, something was close by, something powerful, just like Naruto.

Sakura turned her head and expected to see orange, but instead saw red.

On the other side of the clearing was a demon, with wings on his back and ears atop his head.

Sakura trembled, turned and ran.

The demon seemed to be following her because every so often he would pop up in front of her while she would be running and smirk.

"I was going to attack the castle while Naruto was away, seeing as how I fooled him with my decoy, but I'm feeling kind of hungry. I'll enjoy this…"

The demon's face was scrunched up and ugly, fangs protruding from his mouth, oddly he reminded Sakura of a potato.

The demon sent out a wave of energy and Sakura was pushed back ten feet into a tree.

"I wonder what a human is doing here…"

Sakura was cut up and she was bleeding badly.

The demon continued to approach her, Sakura to scared to move.

The demon sent out another wave, the tree on her side was knocked over and vine wrapped around her arms and legs.

"Yum."

Sakura started to struggle.

"Just leave me alone." To her dismay, she sounded like Hinata,

The demon laughed.

She was grabbed roughly and the demon licked her cheek, he smiled.

"Maybe a little fun first…would want to die virgin right?"

How did everyone know that?

"Let g-go of me."

Sakura regretted walking out of the castle, she regretted not listening to Hinata, most of all she regretted beating Naruto's arrogant ass then dying.

"You're very smart."

The demon was quickly pushed off Sakura and she shivered again, Sakura looked in front of her and saw Naruto, wearing a look that made her shiver again.

"Your lackey was very strong, just not strong enough."

His voice vibrated inside Sakura's brain.

"N-Naruto."

He didn't seem to hear her.

"I told you not to leave."

Naruto finally turned around, his eyes were red once again, his fangs and claws back.

His face softened.

"I guess it was my fault for falling for the trap though…"

He turned away.

And for once Sakura was glad that Naruto was there, she grinned.

"_Thanks."

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_

**Review or I won't EVER update again. Muhahahahahaha!**


	5. The Sacrifice: Chapter 005

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…**

**Sorry for the late update an' all… but, okay, well I don't really have much of an excuse, I was actually planning on taking a vacation from writing, but well, you know it kind of got stretched (And I was being lazy…and working on a new fic), but many people have been asking this: 'How come no one knows she's a demon?' and I feel bad I didn't make this clear enough.**

**Okay, so when she was born Sakura's demonic powers were sealed off right? Well aura was sealed of with it, just enough to make her seem human. See, if no one ever found out she was a demon (outside of her village elders) than no one would be able to break the seal (and therefore result in an all-powerful Sakura! Lol.).**

**Naruto brought her along…cuz, (well you know how Naruto has this big crush on Sakura in the beginning of time in the manga and anime) and this is similar. ONLY SIMILAR! Besides, Naruto is kind of Naruto-ish, you know? He likes Sakura because he does.**

**How come Sakura doesn't look like a demon? Gosh darnit peeps! Don'cha watch/read Yu Yu Hakusho? Hiei is a complete demon and he only has red eyes. Sakura has slightly pointed teeth. Okay? Yeah, not that noticeable.**

**Sorry for the rant people. I hope this helps…**

**And thanks for all the reviewers, it made my day.

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_**Chapter 5**_

The other demon 'thing' as Sakura would've put it, smirked. "Well…I guess this is unexpected." He flexed his claws, and charged. Naruto dodged.

And so the battle went. The demon would charge, Naruto would dodge, Naruto would charge and he would hit.

Sakura sighed, obviously relieved. The demon was too much for her to handle, but for Naruto, he wasn't. Her eyes strayed to the fighting pair as she watched the other demon pull out some little pill and swallow.

Her eyes widened as she watched the enemy throw Naruto to the ground.

She got up.

The demon pulled out a whip, and started after Naruto again, this time Naruto could only dodge. One well planned shot and Naruto was on the ground again.

"What the hell…?"

"Naruto! The…thing ate some pill!"

Naruto nodded and continued forth, speeding up to match his opponents pace. But it seemed that now they were evenly matched, Naruto continued to dodge, but he could not counter attack.

In a moment the whip was coming again, and because he couldn't dodge he had no choice but to catch the whip, it burned his hand on contact.

Sakura hesitantly took a step forth.

"You like that? It's a poisonous whip; it'll melt flesh on contact. I'm the only one who can touch it."

Naruto seemed unusually quiet as he got up and flipped backwards until he was feet away. Inhaling deeply he started to meditate and gather energy, his whisker marks became more defined as a reddish shield surrounded him.

They were on it again, they seemed to be battling it out as which would get hit first.

When Naruto's fist connected with the right side of the other demon's face there was a sickening crack and Sakura cheered. "You got him Naruto!"

Said Naruto grunted as he got in a battle stance. The other demon took out another pill, he swallowed it quickly.

"You won't get me next time."

Sakura took a step back as Naruto did the same. "He's getting stronger with each pill he takes…"

In only a split second the demon was in front of Naruto again, barely missing his face. "Aura pills…"

"That's right! They increase my strength, just enough to defeat you." Another second and Naruto was hit, his cheek swollen as he coughed out blood. Naruto got to his feet and charged.

The reddish shield around his body formed a tail as Naruto charged again, when he missed the tail when automatically to it's victim and wrapped around the demon's leg, tripping the him.

The other demon pulled off the tail and flipped back.

"You're lucky this battle is lasting this long, once I defeat you, I'll be known everywhere. My name is Kohaku; it'll do you well to remember it."

Naruto grunted.

Again with the whip. But this time it extended itself and multiplied, all the loose ends sticking into the ground and hardening, Naruto's red tail connected with one and it dissolved almost instantly, but grew back, with another on this time.

Kohaku charged again, masterfully maneuvering through the maze which he created.

He punched straight through a loose end and connected with Naruto's face, Naruto was pushed back as he came into contact with the poison his back was burned badly.

Sakura's screams were ignored as the battle went on, both fighters got their even share of wounds, some deep and others healed quickly. The battle seemed to be lasting hours, and soon it was nightfall.

The end came when Kohaku realized this was going nowhere. Being the demon he was, he looked towards Sakura's direction, and then back at Naruto's glaring face. Naruto had come to save the pink-haired girl, right?

So…he would do it again, right?

Turning on his heel, Kohaku charged, and surprise registered on Naruto's face as he realized what was going on.

"Watch out Sakura!"

Too late.

Only one chance, Naruto went after the other demon in an attempt to reach Sakura first, in the last minute Naruto was able to jump in front of Sakura, at the cost of his own health.

Kohaku's hand was lodged in Naruto's chest, and if Sakura had to guess, if Kohaku pulled it out, there would be one big hole.

"NARUTO!"

The blonde haired fox demon heard only a rustling as his vision blurred. _'Save Sakura. Save Sakura. Save Sakura…'_

It became a mantra as Naruto clasped onto the invading limb.

He didn't pull it out, but held it steady, trying to see straight, trying to understand what he was about to do.

In his state of blood loss, he could see two Kohaku's, he blindly slashed at one, only to have his hand go through, he shook his head trying to focus, focus…

Soon he could feel the hand trying to pull away from him, Ah; yes it was still stuck in there, so that meant Kohaku was stuck as well.

Gripping harder on Kohaku's arm, he held onto the demon's body, and ripped the arm right off. There was a scream, but Naruto still couldn't tell what was going on. '_Save Sakura, save Sakura…_'

Revenge would be sweet.

Pulling back his other arm, it flew forward and right through the other demon's chest, blood splattered on his chest and he collapsed.

"NARUTO!"

Was heard again, but to the collapsed fox demon it was still nothing but a slight roaring in his ear.

"Sakura…?"

Everything was black in a matter of seconds.

Sakura looked around, blood was pooling under Naruto, she approached cautiously, but Kohaku was already dead, kneeling until she was close enough to Naruto for him to feel her breath trickle on his neck.

"Naruto..?"

He made no move, Sakura started to worry, Naruto couldn't DIE here could he? "Naruto, wake up."

Nothing.

"Naruto, you're bleeding, move, you can't die here. You aren't dead, because you can't die!"

The pink-haired female placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his gently. "Naruto?" One of his eyes opened just a crack.

"Ne, Sakura, you look prettier than usual…"

And he slipped away form her again, but Sakura was glad just to know he was still alive.

"Don't worry Naruto…"

Gently taking one of his arms, she draped it over his shoulder and started to walk. "Don't worry about it Naruto, I know we'll get home soon enough, ok? And I promise I won't leave again, ok? So, j-just don't die here."

"I would do anything for you Sakura…"

His slurred voice brought tears to her eyes.

"I know."

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**God, this chapter was such a pain in the ass. I know this chapter is REALLY, REALLY, REALLY late, but to punish me, you don't have to review!**

**Ok, I lied, if you don't I'll curl up in a corner to sob, I'm really sorry this chapter took so long, but I still really like reviews, and yes, I know, my fighting scenes SUCK.**


	6. The Sacrifice: Chapter 006

**Disclaimer: If only I did own Naruto…**

**Okay, so I finally got off my lazy ass and started to do this. I know I have to finish this because people are waiting for me too. If you haven't read my other stories, please do. I really appreciate the reviews and I read every one.**

**I'm sorry to all those who waited a year for this update.**

**Right now, I haven't really planned the end this could be the second to last, or third to last chapter. Thanks for your patience…

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**_Chapter 6_**

"Mmmm…" Naruto groaned in his sleep, and Sakura had to stop.

"This isn't going to work." There was no way Sakura could drag Naruto back to his castle in her current state, and to top it off it just had to start raining. Today of all days, it had to rain? If only they were in a big drought or something, but the Heavens didn't like her very much did they? No, if the heavens were in her favor, they would've never gotten in this predicament. And if wouldn't have been her fault that Naruto was unconscious and in pain.

Yeah, if only she was that lucky.

The Heavens must've felt bad about their treatment of Sakura, and she was able to find a damp little corner under the roots of a very large tree. It was large enough, and it was dry. The smell wasn't too terrible and they were both protected from the rain.

'_What am I supposed to do now? I'm no medic_…' It's not like Sakura could whip out her handy-dandy first aid kit (not that it would do much good)

All Sakura could be thankful for right now was the fact that they weren't soaked or anything.

'_Shelter, check. Food, no check, what would I need food for anyhow? Naruto's condition, not getting better. Fire? No Check._' Now that she thought about it, it wasn't all too cold in here. '_Don't need fire, I guess._'

And what was supposed to do for Naruto's condition? She supposed she could somehow clean the wounds and bandage them. Taking a piece of her shirt, Sakura ripped it off and held it outside to dampen it. Carefully removing what was left of Naruto's shirt; Sakura laid him on his side and took a look at Naruto's back. The wound was all molten flesh and it looked horrible. There were other smaller gashes on Naruto's torso, and a burn wound on his hand, but they weren't nearly as serious as the one on his back.

'_Okay, here goes_.'

For what she had learned from treating her own minor wounds of scrapes and cuts, you were supposed to clean the wound before bandaging that. Sakura hesitated, '_Were you supposed to do that with burn wounds_?' This wasn't the time to hesitate…

Sakura lifted her hand again and swathed the burn wound with the dampened cloth, she pressed the wound with the piece of her shirt until she realized that Naruto's back was now completely soaked. "Did that work?" Naruto didn't answer, and she didn't expect him too.

"I guess… I should bandage it now."

With what? It's not like she had anything she could tear up, Naruto's shirt was a mess and…

She could use hers; Sakura doubted that Naruto would wake up anyhow.

Sighing, Sakura continued to rip her shirt like one would peel an apple until there was just a little just ending before her torso. She gently wrapped the little strips of fabric around his wound until she was semi-satisfied with her work. There were only a few other wounds that needed dressing now, and somehow the rosette didn't think she had enough cloth for them all.

As the rain began to worsen, Sakura began to realize what a hopeless situation she had put them both in.

Honestly, this was all her fault. She couldn't deny it, and even the most sympathetic person in the world wouldn't have been able to convince her otherwise. If she had only trusted Naruto from the very beginning, none of it would ever have happened. The people from her village were right; she was nothing short of a monster. She had always been selfish and a waste of space, and when someone had finally learned to care for her, she hurt them in the cruelest way.

The temperature continued to drop outside as night slowly came.

Naruto's condition hadn't gotten any better and for what Sakura could tell, he was still in a lot of pain. Clenching her fists, Sakura rested her head on the floor.

If only she could do something, anything, to help save him…

She would give anything to get him better; it didn't matter to her anymore if she had to go back to his castle and suffer all of the stares and whispers from jealous servants.

'_If only… if only… I could do something, but in the end, I'm just a worthless little human._'

Sakura gently brushed one of the hairs away from the blonde's face. '_Anything…_' Closing her eyes, the girl could slowly feel the tears coming. Her hand was still cupping Naruto's check and never in her life had Sakura felt so pathetic.

Suddenly, Sakura felt something. She did a double take. Was something… wiping away her tears?

Her eyes shot open.

"Naruto?"

His eyes were open and he was starting to get up, her poorly made bandages fell off as his form shifted. There were no more burn marks or cuts, not even a scar to mark that they had really been there.

"What…?"

"Hm, Sakura? What am I doing here?" The blonde barely had time to register anything before a pink blur launched herself at him.

"Don't cry… S-Sakura?" He could feel it right then, the aura… it wasn't human. Not anymore. What had happened? He could vaguely remember Sakura sneaking out… and then him having to rescue to her from a demon attempting to kill her. Looking down at his body, Naruto made note that there were no wounds of any kind.

The things started to click slowly in his mind. It couldn't have been possible, but now that he looked, she seemed different too. Her hair was definitely longer, and...

The wounds must have been her doing.

But he had never noticed before, or even considered it a possibility, after all, did she even know? He had heard rumors of a nearby demon family that was murdered years ago; their only child went missing months before they were found dead.

Could it have been her? Was it even possible?

The blonde sighed; he never had liked thinking that much.

Instead, he chose to focus on the brighter things of life. For one, Sakura was currently hugging him like no tomorrow.

"Sakura, don't cry, I'm okay…" But she refused to let go of him.

He sighed, she was so cute, and if she was what he thought she was… it would make everything all the more perfect. There were a few things that he needed to figure out, but other than that, everything seemed to fall into place quickly.

First thing was first though, "Sakura… I have something I need to ask you." The rosette lifted her head slowly; there was a sharp intake of breath.

There was no doubt in his mind now; she was a demon. Her eyes were no longer the emerald green he had fondly remembered. They were darker, colder forest color. Her teeth were now more obviously pointed and her face seemed to be more… deadly.

The girl sniffed quietly as she stared up into the fox-demon's blue eyes.

"Naruto? You're spacing out." He blinked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, Sakura… have you taken a look at your reflection?"

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**Okay, Chapter 6 actually done. I cannot believe I finished this. I am very sorely sorry for the long time and wait I made everyone go through. But it has finally happened, Sakura's past revealed, and now all that has to happen is the ending! I'm sorry if this seems short to you. **

**This may be one of the last times I ask this of you, so please…**

**REVIEW! Feel free to put any rants in there you have about me not doing this quicker. **

**Also:**

**Just to point this out if you didn't read the beginning; this may be the second to last chapter. I will not wait another year before I post the last one okay? **

**I had originally planned to make this the last one, but it didn't work. ****The whole point is, I need some suggestions for the ending.**

**I have my own idea of what I want to happen, but that's for the last chapter.**

**If anyone wants an epilogue, please leave your comments when you review. ****If you honestly don't care, please tell me that too. **


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